The Truth Is More Hideous Than You Could Imagine
by tibys
Summary: Cassandra Iorwens daughter Ara Gray holds a great secret. She lives in a hard time of war balancing what she wants from life to what her mother both biological and adoptive want from her. But to do what she wants she must go against everything she knows
1. Chapter 1

a figure lurked in the shadows by the side of a house. she heard the laboured breathing of the ministry auror walking the perimeter of her front yard. the figure, a woman, clenched her fist to prevent her from hexing the meddlesome ministry official and focused on entering the house.

cassandra iorwen was sipping coffee on her couch, idly flipping through witch weekly but she found much to her dismay that she couldnt concentrate. her eyes would not cease their insistent travelling to an old issue of the daily prophet dated a week before. the partly obscured newspaper had pictures of several death eaters but her eyes would focus on the only one that mattered to her, bellatrix lestrange. she sneered into the camera making horrid faces and as she looked over her friends picture she couldnt help but think of her daughter sleeping upstairs peacefully or the auror patrolling her house perimeter to make sure she and her daughter had the ministries 'protection against potential criminals' she scoffed at the idea of it all, they were looking for bellatrix she knew it, she also knew bellatrix wasn't stupid enough to come to her house. at least she thought she wasnt that stupid

cassandra put down her coffee cup slowly as she heard the slightest of noises from the cellar door. normally it would not have bothered her, it was an old house that she lived in and the house made all sorts of noises but it must have the shock of being broken out of her train of thought. she wouldnt have investigated if she hadnt heard shuffling of unmistakable wary steps of a person so she gathered up her wand and pursued the intruder. her heart thudded as the shadow of a burgler entered her house through her wine cellar and she mentally berated herself for not locking it, how many times did she forget to do that. before cassandra could even open her mouth to stun the intruder her wand clattered to the floor and she was staring down the tip of a wand.

"what the hell are you doing here?" cassandra whispered urgently as she pulled bellatrix into the shadows while peering out the windows for the ministry official, she heard is unmistakable cough near the other side of the house "how did you get in here? they have the whole place surrounded with aurors" her tone was her attempt at scolding the death eater for risking prison a week after she broke out but addmittedly it came out a bit relieved. she had missed her friend.

"one auror but if you feel so strongly about him i will take care of him." the corners of bellatrix's mouth turned upward at the thought. cassandra attempted a glare but failed miserably, she really wasnt mad at her at all. "the auror" bellatrix reminded her

"stay here" she hissed at bellatrix before walking away into the shadows

cassandra iorwen cursed her beloved friends stupidity but she could not, for some sad and twisted reason, stay mad at the poor ghost of a women she used to know. she emerged seconds later with a bottle of a sickly amount of a thick purple substance and a steaming cup of tea. with a warning glance at bellatrix she walked out of her house and straight towards the ailing auror who was resting under the shadows of the front porch.

"your cough has just about woken up the neighborhood, and its simply unbelievable your superiors 

would let you work at this time of night in this utterly miserable weather. naturally i took pity on you and ive taken the liberty to give you some cough syrup and a cup of tea." she offered the young man a kind smile and she knew her eyes were brimming with the false illusion of warmth and caring. hesitently the shivering man grabbed the hot cup of tea and drank it greedily and thankfully.

"thank yeh mum, im much obliged" his accent was thick and his words were uncertain as he took he cough syrup from her hands

"there there now, i know it isnt very tasty but drink it all up if you want to feel better, there you go, all gone" she took the cup back from him and offered him another smile "let me go and fetch you a blanket you poor thing." she cooed to the drowsy man who gave her a gapped grateful smile.

"i wouldnt want to be a problem" he was saying it out of politeness but she knew that he wanted contrary to what he voiced.

"no problem at all young man, ill be back in a jiffy. now you just take a seat here" satisfied that he was comfortable she dashed back into the house where bellatrix was waiting with a blanket in her hand. by the time she returned to the young and foolish auror he was fast asleep on her doorstep, oh yes cassandra was very pleased with herself as she carefully draped the naive auror with the blanket. bellatrix was smirking with great amusement as cassandra scoffed in indignation,

"and you wanted to kill him" she muttered unable to keep the triumph out of her voice.

"my friend" bellatrix gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder before whispering in her ear "youve gone soft in my absence."

cassandra gave bellatrix a sad smile

"children, rotten little things, made me go soft" she glanced up to where her daughter was fast asleep and bellatrix followed her vision

"how is she" her voice was softer and quieter than before "can i see her?" her eyes were pleading.

"she is asleep bella, she sleeps like the dead, not unlike her mother." cassandra gave bella a woeful sad smile.

"what was her reaction when she heard of my newfound freedom cass? was she excited? can i speak with her? she will of course become one of us, follow our lord" at the very mention of the death eaters the crazed obsession entered bellas eyes only for a moment as she envisioned the childs future.

oh dear, this was the hard part thought cassandra, what was she going to tell bellatrix, that her daughter didnt even know she exsisted, she didnt know the truth?  


"im afraid, bella, that well, the time never really arose where i could tell her about, well you." the faraway look bellatrix had adopted was wiped away in a second and was replaced by a cold fury.

"what?" the words were hissed lowly and the air bristled with the womens wrath.

if it had been anyone else that bellatrix was looking at they would have long since fled but no cassandra iorwen was well acustomed to her friends violent mood swings.

"she hasnt a clue about you, i was waiting for the right time to tell her." she stared defiantly into the older womens eyes but deep down she was starting to feel the apprehension that only came with the withering look that bellatrix was giving her

"well you had better tell her soon." it was more of a threat than a command and cassandra could do nothing to sway her anger.

"she will bella, ill tell her as soon as i feel fit." she had only blinked but in that blink there was a wand pointed at her forhead.

"you will tell her tommorow and you will visit my sister this weekend, are we clear?" cassandra could only nod, not even a quarter of a centuries worth of friendship could come inbetween a killer and her daughter. pity.

TBC

Well its been a while since ive written and an even longer while since ive written for fanfiction so yeah I don't know if this is good or anything, and I know I can write better but that's beside the point this story is sort of spur of the moment thing that came out of sleep deprivation and apathy. But yeah if you like it please tell me in a review or else I will probably lose all hope for it.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews I have gotten so far and yeah the main characters name is Ara pronounced AYE-ra aye like a pirate saying aye captain. Ara gray, I trust you can say gray? Any ways here is the update woohoo!!

oOoOoOoOoO

Ara gray grumbled miserably as the morning sunshine poured through the windows at her mother's house. How she ended up staying there was a true, dreadful topic fit for a funeral. Rubbing the sleep out of eyes she stood and groaned loudly. She had officially outgrown her childhood bed and cursed Merlin for her numerous growth spurts that left her standing at an imposing height of 5'10. A large yawn and stretch later Ara stood hunched over the bathroom sink doing her normal morning bathroom routines all the while making strange faces in the mirror to herself.

"_How very eloquent of you mrs.Gray"_ the mirror spoke with a highly annoying high pitched octave and was more than a bit grumpy in the mornings. Ara pulled a nasty face at the mirror

"Its miss now, remember?" she ground out bitterly.

"_Oh dear me, forgive me I forgot… again, it must have been the faces you made"_

"Well at least I have a face you stupid hunk of glass"

"_Stupid hunk of charmed glass dear. And if you don't mind the stupid hunk of glass saying but, you look like shite." _

"Thanks for the bloody bulletin, I look better than you"

"_I'm a mirror"_

She narrowed her eyes at the sassy mirror but didn't say another word. The hunk of glass did a point though; it was not one of Ara's finer moments in her beauty history. Her thick black hair stood up at any and every given angle, and she had purple bruising under her dark eyes. Her face was paler than usual and was pulled tight against her thinner face.

'Merlin' she thought 'I need a vacation. Yes, a nice long vacation, with no men involved, and with a spa, somewhere exotic' while dreaming up all her dream vacations and following her nose, she found her mother with one eye on a silly witch magazine, and one eye on the breakfast carefully cooking on the stove.

"Mm mother, a certain breakfast something smells delicious" the corners of her mother's mouth upturned

"Dear, that's lunch. Breakfast was five hours ago. I didn't have the heart to wake you, Merlin knows you need your sleep" startled, Ara looked at the clock hanging on the wall which read in block letters 13:00

"Bloody hell mom, when did it get so late?"

"Language" she chastised lightly "it passed when you were sleeping darling now come here, I've got a surprise for you."

Ara immediately narrowed her eyes, the last surprise she had from her mother involved strippers, a paperclip, and a toaster.

"Nothing like that." Twin streaks of red filled Cassandra's face as she read her daughters mind

"Is it a good surprise or a bad surprise, I don't like surprises." Her mother's mouth narrowed into a line

"Well it's going to be bad at first, but in time I think it will be good" realization dawned on Aras face as she twisted into one of disgust

"You're not pregnant are you?!"

"Wha- oh never mind I told you that we were...oh you little… no, I'm not pregnant and I don't plan on it anytime soon. So get that thought out of your head." The red returned with a vengeance on Cassandra's face and frustration began to build in the pit of her stomach, trust Ara to make things difficult.

"I've got some papers that you've got to see, since they involve you and such" she pushed the documents toward where Ara was standing, the young women eyed them with suspicion

"Mom I am a citizen right? I'm not some illegal immigrant alien? Because if I am ill be so pissed at you." She warned taking a tentative step forward

"No ara" her mother sighed loudly and exasperatedly. Ara reached the papers and hesitantly pulled them forward to her

"I don't understand, this is my birth certificate." she furrowed her eyebrows at her mother who had jumped up and busied herself with the tea pot

"There is nothing wrong with it is there?" worry began to fill Ara as she watched her mothers back like a hawk, she was nervous for some reason

"Look closer dear." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Ara ran her eyes over it, name, Ara Callidora Black, she nodded black was her mothers maiden name check, her birthday, January 19th check, father, blank no surprise there, mother. Ara gasped slightly as her vision swam before her eyes

"How long have you known?" her voice was dreamy and her face felt cold and clammy as a sweat beaded her forehead as she sunk into the kitchen chair.

"she was my best friend, she was arrested, you have to understand, I always wanted a baby but I couldn't have one, it was a favor for Bella but that doesn't mean I don't love you honey, I do, I was waiting for the right time to tell you." Her mothers, no Cassandra's, voice was constricted and watery.

"The right time?" she said incredulously "the right time was a long time ago."

Her world began to crash in and all around her chaos reined, buildings exploded with large booms that sent earthquakes through the country and flames licked the sky. Wind whipped around Aras hair and it stung her cold flesh. it was a hurricane, a tornado, a earthquake, and a tsunami that invaded her location on the globe all at the same time. hellish vultures swooped down and grabbed people and carried them off while hell hounds and trolls ravaged in the chaos. The ground opened up and the imposter was gobbled up into the dark abyss. admist all the turmoil Ara never heard a sound, just silence that screamed, deafening her ears, leaving them ringing with pain.

"Ara, oh Ara, please forgive me" her mother, scratch that, the imposter broke her out of her thoughts and she looked up at her mothers pleading, desperate eyes.

"Please, oh please, forgive me, I love you"

I love you, they were simple words really, 8 letters, 3 syllables, effortlessly it rolled off the imposters tongue but Ara could no longer reciprocate the words, never again. She glared back at the imposter who had began to cry,

"Please"

she looked so pathetic standing there looking so defeated and somewhere inside of her body ara felt the slight pull of pity, but it was quickly masked by her oncoming anger,

"No, never again"

The words were uttered with venom and malice that it was to much on the poor woman's heart. She broke down, sinking to the floor crying. Ara marched upstairs, angrily wiping away the stray tears in her eyes and swallowing the lump in her throat. She violently threw her worldly possessions inside of her suitcase. She was leaving, she, of course, had no idea where she was going, but she was going, she needed to get away from that imposter of a mother, away from life, perhaps to a pub where she could drink the rest of her pitiful bank account away, yes that sounded nice, the leaky cauldron perhaps? To noisy and crowded, the last thing she needed was running into someone she knew, namely her imposter or co workers, or worse, fans. Hogs head? Yes, private, secluded, quiet...perfect. With her destination in mind Ara stormed out of the house ignoring the imposters cries for her to come back.

TBC

Well she didn't take that very likely I don't like but yeah chapter two woot woot and finished at 1.27 in the morning oohh yeah baby. Well I hope to update soon so keep reviewing! I hope its not cheesy or anything and criticism is very appreciated PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT IM DOING RIGHT OR WRONG! I hope I'm not progressing to quite….

An explanation on ara is she changed her name to gray for her short but slightly successful music career, she didn't want to use the name black because too many people would get her confused with the black family (which she didn't know she was a part of yet) and that name was a dangerous one to have so her and her mother decided that it would be best to change it for gray being ara's favourite colour.

Tibys


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for your continued patronage, id like to take the time to thank FaerieEpona for the continued reviews they really have kept me going (sad since this is only the third chapter) but well it keeps me updating somewhat regularly.

Ara stared blankly into her drink, her eyes were glazed over and her mind was clouded as she marveled at the distorted reflected stranger staring back at her. Was that what she looked like? The thought drifted through her muddled mind like a phantom wandering through the shadows. She looked worse now than she had ever in her entire life, she wasn't even a hollow reflection of the once pretty women she was. Without a moments hesitation the firewhiskey was burning down Ara's throat and into her stomach.

"Another Aberforth….please"

she was almost to her goal, she could feel it, the bliss of darkness, just a few more drinks, her speech was slurred and her vision was swimming, any moment now.

"I think that's enough for you tonight Mrs. Gray" the bar keep eyed her nervously was he ran a dirty rag over a glass. Ara felt a growl build in the back of her throat

"It's miss now Aberforth, you'd be best to remember that from now on." She hissed in a dangerously low tone from under her hood.

"My apologies its just a habit of mine. Perhaps you should kick it in early tonight Miss Gray" he eyed her warily, Aberforth Dumbledore knew only to well how quickly a drunk could turn.

Ara nodded but didn't move from her spot on the bar, a lump had begun to well in her throat, how many people had to remind her of her failed marriage? She was drinking to forget about her once glowing life, she was drinking to block it all out, to become numb, but no matter what she did, the past was always there to spring up on her and bite her head off. Ara was finding it difficult to breathe with the lump constricting her airways. Of course, she thought bitterly, what habits had formed when she met and married the impossibly rich, handsome, and talented musician. She was living in a fantasy then, a high note in her career of life. Possibly the only high note she had in life, aside from her graduation from Hogwarts.

Geoffrey Christopher gray was Ara's personal prince charming, a true knight in shining armor. She met him one night at a bar she used to play and sing the odd song of two on the open mike night, when she had a little too much to drink and was in an inspired mood to perform. She never was really serious about music, sure she liked to listen to it, and when the mood happened upon her she liked to compose this or that, but she wasn't hung up on becoming famous or something, she was just making pretty sounds with an instrument.

One of these such nights Geoffrey was listening and as he recalled to her late he was absolutely taken with her. Geoffrey wasn't just some random face in the crowd, he was famous. Of course Ara 

didn't know that at the time, but to her shock she was chased every second in the muggle world by photographers. It didn't take long for Geoffrey to proclaim his love for her and ask for her hand in marriage. Ara drew a tight sarcastic smile, oh how naïve she was. Of course she said yes, it wasn't everyday that a muggle rock star, a ridiculously good looking muggle rock star, asked for your hand in marriage!

The madness with the press increased every day, and every day Ara's dreams were coming true, she met her man and he was like a god to her. She was rich and better yet, she was on her way to becoming just as famous as her husband, she had begun writing songs with a fervor and intensity she had never before felt, and with her rock star husband she was able to hear these songs on the radio, within a year of her marriage she was headlining sell out concerts, right next to her husband. Admittedly the concerts were sold out because of Geoffreys name next to hers, but that didn't stop her from earning her fair share of fans, or her fair share of media, only this time, it leaked into the wizarding world as well. Life was amazing for Ara, and it was all crushed when she came home early from a visit to the wizarding world, she was going to surprise her husband with a few magical treats from a café in Diagon Alley and a package of Bertie Botts, his absolute favorite. (Geoffrey was astounded at all the flavours of the beans and the deliciousness of the treats; he was completely oblivious to the wizarding world). She found Geoffrey inside of _their_ bed, under _their_ covers, with not one, not two, not even three girls but _six._ Ara sneered into the bar of the table. She remembered that scene exactly, it was burned into her minds eye, she was hurt at first but when he turned around his smug smile only made her mad

"What? You think the great Geoffrey Christopher gray would only settle for one girl? Darling, you're not that special. Now why don't you join us, there is enough of me to go around I'm sure"

she wanted to punch him in his cocky face. By the time Ara was done with him, he had several bat sized bogies attacking his face and all the girls were sporting some sort of irregularity ranging from antlers to a swollen, red body. All the jinxes in the world could have been cast and she still would be hurt.

"Aberforth" her voice was watery "please, just one more, I promise ill go up after that" pathetic, she thought as she heard the desperation in her voice

"Just one more." Her shoulders slumped defeated, that had only been the start of her problems. A long drawn out divorce later left Ara with hardly anything and she was back living with her mother.

Her mother.

Aras shoulders shook violently with a barely repressed sob, she was becoming more and more sober and more and more pain washed over her as she thought of her mother. Ara was the first to admit that she had been a little dramatic with her exit; the revelation triggered a full blown breakdown. She still harboured hard feelings against her mother for lying to her for all of those years, but that didn't stop Ara from loving the women who raised her, she wondered vaguely if she was alright, she wondered about her real mother, who she really was, and couldn't help but wonder what she was like, if she was 

anything like Cassandra. Her temples pulsed with a newfound pain as Aberforth relented and gave her another drink

"This is the last one" he warned her before he let go of it.

Ara's head was muddled again, she was confusing her self, it was hard to think about two mothers, her mother mother, and her real mother, it was all so confusing. Why couldn't she live just a normal boring life? Why did all of this happen in the course of one year?

She drank the contents of her glass before unsteadily climbing to her feet. With a nod to the barkeep she carefully navigated her way to her room. The hogs head was by no means a palace, in fact it resembled more a room that hasn't been cleaned in a few centuries. She reached her door and carefully peered in, she swore she saw a monstrously big cockroach the first night she stayed there. No bugs scuttled across the floor and a few scourgifys later she felt it was safe to lie in her bed. She was unconscious before she hit the pillow.

TBC

Review please if you have the time, tell me what I did wrong or right or both or tell me if you like it, I take any sort of reviews even negative ones soo yeah…. Please??

tibys


	4. Chapter 4

The knocking on the door was loud. Incredibly loud. It was as if there were bomb going off outside of her door, and ara wondered dimly if the door could withstand such a beating. Ara struggled to stand up but the second the moved her head pain shot through it. With a crash and the squeal of strained springs she collapsed back on her bed yelling for the knocker to enter.

Cassandra did not have an easy time telling Bellatrix that she lost her daughter. The woman naturally reacted badly and if it hadn't been for their long friendship she was sure that she would have been long dead. Cass was on the edge of a breakdown similar to that her daughter suffered, this was the reason why she had not told her daughter of her real mother. Cassie loved her daughter, adored her. And how could she not? She had been a bright student, a Ravenclaw, and graduated with honours from Hogwarts. She was accepted into many programs in the ministry including the healing and Auror program. She had turned both down to take a job with the Unspeakables. However, when she met that awful man, she resigned and took an independent researching contract with the ministry. Cass always warned her daughter about that man Geoffrey, she knew he was a bad apple, but she was so in love, and so happy. Cassie didn't have the heart, Bellatrix was right, she had gone soft. But Cassie was never the killer, the fighter that Bellatrix was. Instead she was the voice of reason, the restricting force that held her back. She hadn't even joined the death eaters, claiming that it would further endanger Ara if anything ever happened to Bellatrix. But Ara would always be her daughter, always, at least in her mind.

And something did happen. She was sorry her friend went to prison for all of those years, and yet some part of her, deep down, knew that she deserved and was secretly saying 'serves you right'. She couldn't bring herself to acknowledge her friend and fallen from being noble to being a ruthless criminal, and she was weak for that. No matter how many children Bellatrix killed, how many families she tore apart, Cassandra would always be her friend. Through thick and thin. Always.

And it is because of this reason that we find them here in the hallway in the hogs head. Bellatrix had her hood pulled up hiding her face, Cassandra spoke for both of them. Aberforth knew Cassandra and sadly told her that her daughter was probably passed out in her room.

Cassie cautiously entered and was saddened to see her daughter clutching her head in pain, struggling to see in the dark. Bellatrix turned on the light which only elicited a sharp intake of breath from Ara and a groan. Cassandra dug through her purse and pulled out pain potion and helped her daughter gulp it down. "im sorry dear, I know its no hangover potion but this should help" she cooed as she stroked her daughters hair.

Bellatrix looked around and sniffed at her daughters surroundings. The room was filthy, certainly no place for someone of the status of a Black or a Lestrange.

After a few moments ara's mind began to clear enough to see who it was exactly was in her room. She let out another groan, "what the bloody hell are you doing here" she jerked away from her imposter mother, ignoring the hurt that crossed her face.

"we came to introduce you to—"

"me" Bellatrix had cut her off as she proudly took off her hood.

The resemblance was astounding. Ara jumped back in surprise, what had her birth certificate said? She had blocked out the name of her true mother when she saw it, but it all came rushing back to her. Aras face paled as the realization and truth settled in, her mother, her real mother, was the notorious escaped mass murderer Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Another Aberforth" Ara called from down the table.

Aberforth leaned heavily against the counter as he gave his patron a drink before pouring himself one. He sat down on a stool and looked at her. "Seems like your going through a rough spot in life yeah?"

Ara snorted into her ale "yeah I s'pose you could say that." There was a grim amusement that was intertwined in her words.

"Well Ara" he gave a dramatic sigh as he leaned on his elbow "tell me you problems, what troubles your soul child?"

Aberforth always had a soft spot for some of the Hogwarts students who found themselves into his tavern. Ara was one of those regulars who brought him candy when she was in school every Hogsmeade weekend. She much preferred to sip butterbeer in his empty, albeit dirty tavern than the loud and crowded three broomsticks. He also enjoyed her conversations; she was very mature for her age. She never really had very many friends either. It pained him to see her in this condition, sipping something much stronger than her usual butterbeer.

Two sips later she responded "I'm having an identity crisis" it sounded pitiful, even to herself.

Aberforth nodded "a quarter life crisis?" he was pleased to see that his comment drew a genuine smile out of her.

"Yes I suppose you could say its a quarter life crisis." She frowned a bit into her drink "oh Aberforth it's a quarter life disaster that's what it is"

She then continued to tell him all of her problems, of course changing names of certain people, notably her real mother. "And I don't know what to think, I mean she was a great mother, she is but she lied to me all of these years, and then there is my real mother, Cindy (the chosen pseudonym for Bellatrix), and I don't know her you know? She just appeared, and I get her absence, I under stand that, its just what do I think of her as, she missed my whole life you know, and uggh" she buried her face in her hands, tears of frustration leaking out of her eyes, but she had to admit, her soul felt lighter after telling Aberforth everything.

Aberforth leaned back and sighed. "Sounds like quite the pickle, do you want my advice" seeing her nod and peer through parted fingers at him, he continued "first forget about that guy, he was a jerk you will find someone else that you will love and he will love you. Second you should repair the relationship with cassie, you both will regret if you don't, and get to know your real mother, if you say there were circumstances that are logical why she couldn't raise you, then don't hold it against her. You need all the love you can get. Third go get yourself pampered, go to the spa get cleaned up and then go look for a job, the castle is always hiring, go apprentice yourself to some poor teacher, and then in three years you will have your own classroom. If you like I can set up an appointment with the spa and with Albus. And lastly" he smiled "make sure you pay your tab when you get the job, your drinking me dry here with nothing to show for it." Ara blushed as she began to pull out the money her mothers left her.

"This is all I have" she muttered meekly wondering just how much she owed. Aberforth patted her on the arm as he pushed it back at her "go get yourself cleaned up at a spa you can pay me later trust me when I say you need it" Ara slapped him playfully on the arm, before pocketing the money again.

"Thank you Aberforth though really" she said earnestly before leaving the tavern for the first time in what seemed to be ages.

The air was like heavens breath on her skin. When was the last time she had been outdoors? Humming, Ara walked down Hogsmeade, what Aberforth had said really made sense and she was determined to follow his advice.

Aberforth was a very insightful man; Ara began to learn over the years. He had always calmly listened to her problems and then told her what to do. Aside from his weird obsession with a painting in the back room and goats he was a pretty alright guy, who would always remain her friend.

Breezing into the hogs head that night Ara was a new woman, she had gone to a spa in muggle London that was absolutely exquisite and on her way back she stopped at a muggle sweet shop and bought Aberforth candies of every kind, as well as some things for herself. When she returned Aberforth told her she had an interview with Albus Dumbledore the next day for a job, he claimed that Albus was ecstatic to have her back in the castle. It had been a good day, one of the best she had in years, and it was so good that she almost forgot all of her problems. Almost

Late that night, Ara sat awake, sober, and staring at her ceiling. There were a lot of things on her mind. A job at the castle, she wondered how plausible that really was, it was just after Christmas and there was already snow on the ground. School was in session so it was unlikely that Hogwarts was really hiring. Albus was probably just humoring her. She turned on her bed. But on the other hand he may actually give her a job, albums was the sort of man who would hire a new teacher in the middle of term, she wasn't looking to be a teacher either, she was looking for anything, the kitchens would do if she had to. She sat up on her bed. She could always go back to the ministry and make spells for them, that was what she had done before, and as far as she knew the department liked her. She stood up and lit a fire. And then there was her mother, and her other mother, both of them. They were so hard to keep apart in her mind. Aberforth's advice would be sound if it was any other bloody person, but Bellatrix Lestrange is not someone Ara imagined she would want to get to know. She had seen the look on her mothers face yesterday though, she was sad. Yes she supposed she would have to confront them sometime soon. She sat down on a ragged chair. Her real mothers return also signaled another thing, it told Ara that dark times were coming, the papers were wrong; the dark lord was back from the grave. Ara's stomach flipped uncomfortably, with his return Ara would have to choose a side for the war, the Death Eaters or the Ministry. Ara desperately did not want to make that choice.

TBC

Tibys.

Right well im back from the dead. This has been one hectic year let me tell you, I have a full high school schedule as well as a part time college schedule in an effort to graduate early. Right now is AP exam week so I have been studying. Not to mention I completely forgot about this story and lost inspiration for it a long time ago. I am now on all new ideas and stories but I would like to thank Whoopsydaisy for reminding me this exists, and everyone else that reviewed, I really like them, and it reminds me I have an obligation. So yeah keep on me I promise ill keep going. I have this whole story in my head, I just haven't written it down. Anyways again review and keep me company, also if you have any suggestions on plots that is much appreciated, anything you would like to see, im thinking about having this go into a SS/OC later later later on, but im not sure yet.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than plot and OCs

Sorry its not very long….

The day was a relatively successful one in Ara's book. She had taken Aberforth's advice and met with Albus Dumbledore to talk about job prospects. Albus had explained that in the middle of the year jobs were hard to come by. Ara's face fell; she knew that it would be almost hopeless to work at the castle. She didn't even know why she even tried. Albus however continued "it has come to my attention that several of the teachers would be grateful for a helping hand around the castle? Perhaps a teaching assistant?" she froze. Was this really happening? It did happen and it was after this elation and several drinks with Aberforth in success that Ara found herself only half stumbling to her room. She would need to pack.

It was in such elation that Ara very nearly forgot everything that had gone wrong in her life in the last few months. All elation that was once felt had been thrown out the window however when she opened her door. At first she didn't realize what she was looking at, there was a dark shape in the corner of the room, and she almost didn't notice it right away, it wasn't until it started to move that Ara reached for her wand. Panic washed over her when she realized her wand was nowhere to be found in her robes. The dark figure in the corner held it in one hand whilst the other pulled off the hood that hid the persons face. It was her mother, her real mother, Bellatrix Lestrange. "You should never leave your wand anywhere, this is an object that should always be within easy reach" she held it out for Ara to take "you never know when you might need it" her voice was soft and her stance aloof. It made her look very uncomfortable.

Ara snatched her wand out of her mothers hand before retreating to her bed in the other corner of the room. Drawing herself into a corner she surveyed her mother through narrow eyes "what d'you want" Bellatrix slowly took a seat back in her original spot, her actions were very exaggerated, and yet graceful at the same time. She moved as if she was trying not to frighten a wary animal.

She mulled over her thoughts for a few long moments, never taking her eyes off her daughter, "I thought that we should get to know each other properly." Her words were slow, as if testing the way they tasted.

Ara nodded, it was a fair statement, she conceded. "What do you want to know" her grip on her wand relaxed slightly, and only slightly.

Bellatrix looked slightly uncomfortable, and more than slightly undignified when a perplexed look flittered across her face. "What do you do for a living" she finally asked.

Ara let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding "I used to make spells for the ministry, freelance work mostly for different departments. I also have my certification in curse breaking."

The corners of the Death Eaters mouth turned upwards "so you are good with a wand?"

Ara stared at her mother, it wasn't a question that was asked often, and it was one she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Uh, I'm good with magic, I mean understanding it, making it, recognizing. I don't know if I'm necessarily good with a wand." The sentence sounded lame to Ara.

Bellatrix was silent again, grasping for something to ask. She never realized how hard it would be to talk to her daughter, there was so much she wanted to know, and yet the million questions that went through Bella's mind only hours ago had suddenly disappeared. "Do you have a boyfriend, fiancé?" she let the question drag on, taking special notice in the way her daughter suddenly looked both angry and distraught.

"Ask Cassandra about that." Her buzz was completely lost between the thoughts of Geoffrey and calling her mother Cassandra. And her day was going so good.

An awkward silence followed the pair, neither really knowing what to ask. Ara finally asked about Bella, her family. She learned about the Blacks and the Lestranges, her sisters and Bellatrix told her daughter stories from when she was in school. Often times they were at the very least slightly amusing to Ara, sometimes she would sit at the edge of her bed listening with rapt attention, and then there were the times where Bellatrix blatantly talked about her obsession with the dark arts and the Dark Lord. The worst part was Ara didn't know if she should feel disgusted when she heard of her mother's bigoted words, or whether she should be feeling the sudden urge to have her mother, the deranged Death Eater sitting opposite the room, proud of her. Suddenly Ara felt embarrassed by the dingy room she had called home for the past weeks, she felt ashamed not having a steady job, and angry by her blind efforts at love. She wanted this woman whom she should hate, like her, she wanted to see Bellatrix's face with a smile, and most of all she wanted to see pride shine in her dark eyes.

The night grew late and finally in the early morning hours Ara felt her eyelids grow heavy. Her mother had long since abandoned her post in the corner to don one on the bed next to her daughter. They sat, Ara leaning into her chest, Bellatrix with her arm around her daughter, her eyes glazed over slightly.

"You have my eyes you know, and my hair." She stroked her daughter's hair softly, pulling her hand through wild curls. "You have your fathers face though, his features I mean." Her voice was faraway as she mulled over it.

"Very beautiful, just like him" she smiled into her daughter's hair.

"Tell me about him" Ara voice was slightly slurred with sleep.

"He was the most beautiful boy in his year at Hogwarts," the rest was lost to Ara because it wasn't long at all before her breathing evened out and she was soon floating in a dream world filled with beautiful boys and Dark Marks.

The next morning Ara awoke to Aberforth pounding on her door. When she tried to roll out of bed she found that instead of the tangled sheets that were the very quickly becoming a norm, she had been tucked in nicely. With a smile she remembered the conversation the night before.

"Yer gonna be late for the first day" Aberforth snapped at her when she arrived tavern fifteen minutes later. "I'll send yer things up after you, don't worry, here eat this and get outta here!" he pushed a sandwich into her hand and shoved her out into the snow unceremoniously.

At the castle gates her transfiguration teacher stood waiting for her. "Glad to see you back in the castle dear" Minerva could be so nice. Ara had the distinct feeling that this was going to be a good day. But then again, her feelings had not been very reliable when it came to the flow of her days.

TBC

Tibys

Thanks again from reviewers who let me know that they want me to continue, I tell you I get a review and im obligated to write something more. To tell you the truth the first chapter was to a completely different story and then im trying to get it back into the Ara I made. The original Ara knew who her mother was and lived in an orphanage for a bit before being adopted by muggles. She also was a musician who adored her mother, even though she is a notorious mass murderer, she still had some memories of her. If you guys have any requests as to what you want to see with this story then feel free to let me know. I literally have nothing to do but to write because university doesn't start for another month and a half! So right now is the time to review and get me writing. We see Bella kinda OOC in this chapter, but im going to make her very in character for most of the story, I just had to kinda put in a lets get to know you chapter to make this Ara into my Ara. Well I feel like im rambling now so im going to stop, hope you like, I apologize for grammar mistakes.


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